GLOSTER — Gov. Tate Reeves was reminded that Gloster and other Southwest Mississippi towns exist on Wednesday, and Mayor Jerry Norwood got to thank Reeves and other officials for putting the Claw in Gloster.
Reeves made the trip down from Jackson to Amite County to announce that Claw Forestry Services will build a $200 million sawmill on about 50 acres comprising the former Georgia-Pacific mill site and the adjoining former elementary school property off Highway 24 West.
The new mill is expected to produce 130 jobs on its own once it opens, along with 200 indirect jobs.
Reeves joked that he didn't believe places like Gloster and Liberty existed when his father talked about playing against teams from there as a Bogue Chitto Bobcat.
"I knew the points he said he scored didn't exist, so I thought the places didn't exist, either," he said.
He became better acquainted with Southwest Misissippi campaigning over the years, and he said existence in Gloster and Southwest Mississippi should be better with the location and eventual opening of the Claw plant.
"An investment of this magnitude will make a huge difference here, not just for a day or two, but for generations," he said. "The capital investment is important, and the jobs are important, but it won't be a benefit just to the employees, but to the community as a whole."
With the workforce and the timber resources available, "Gloster is the ideal place to locate," he said.
The governor touted the efforts of his administration, including the Mississippi Development Authority, in bringing jobs and economic infrastructure to the state.
He said the eight years prior to his administration, the state averaged about $900 million in economic development investment.
He said noted that Claw's investment alone would be almost a quarter of those previous years' results, and investment this year has already topped $1 billion with this announcement.
William VanDevender, chief executive officer of Claw, said once the plant is up and running, it should produce about 250 million board-feet of lumber a year, using about 1 million tons of logs annually, and make sales of more than $100 million a year.
"We want to be good stewards," VanDevender said. "We want to make the best of the timber resources available to produce the best lumber we can.
"We feel we are good corporate citizens, and we want to continue to be that in Gloster — forever, as a matter of fact."
Gloster Mayor Jerry Norwood said the announcement is "one of the proudest moments in my life, and my proudest moment as mayor.
"This will begin a new era in Gloster and Southwest Mississippi. This will change the face of Gloster. People won't have to drive 83 miles to work like I do — it's a decent job, but we haven't had anything in Amite County.
"Young people in the future won't have to say the same thing. Thank you for putting the Claw in Gloster."
VanDevender and other Claw officials "recognize the quality of the workforce and the quality of the timber basket in Southwest Mississippi," Reeves said after the presentation. "This will benefit not just the 130 families that have workers at the plant, but boost timber owners across a four to five-county region."
Noting that it's been "a long time since there was a major economic development announcement in Southwest Mississippi," Reeves said working together across the region was an important component in the drawing the plant to Gloster.
Gloster aldermen, Amite County supervisors and county school board members all had a direct hand in helping to bring Claw to the area, and they were supported by the boards of Liberty and Centreville as well as Woodville and Wilkinson County.
Norwood said after the announcement that he expected groundbreaking and a start to construction sometime in June.
Reeves said continuing delays in supply chains could push the opening of the plant a couple of years down the road.
He also said he expects Southwest Mississippi Community College will play a large role in providing training for employees at the plant.
